Youth philanthropic stars will shine at the 2016 A Night Among the Stars awards ceremony at the Youth Center in Los Alamitos on April 30. Seventeen nominees will be formally recognized at this year’s event for their selfless volunteer efforts. Three will be awarded $500 scholarships and all nominees will receive certificates of recognition and letters of recommendation.
“These stellar volunteers are what make our community thrive,” said Youth Center Executive Director Lina Lumme. “This is their night to shine.” This year the Los Alamitos/Seal Beach Rotary Club is helping the Youth Center to offer the scholarships. “We felt that A Night Among the Stars would be consistent with our Rotary philanthropy goals of support for local charities,” said Rotary Club President Dr. Milt Houghton. “Our choice of this event came from a desire to make the greatest impact on our community with the money we had available.”
Milt said that their support for the event came about as a result of a Rotary District 5320 matching grant where each year members of the club make donations to the Rotary International Foundation. After three years, 25 percent of this money is made available to the club in the form of a matching grant from which they decided to help offer the scholarships.
The 2016 A Night Among the Stars nominees and their nominating organizations include:
• Andy Farmer of Cypress – Memory Care Assisted Living Home
• Kyle Farmer of Cypress – Memory Care Assisted Living Home
• Brielle Johnson of Westminster – Grateful Hearts
• Cassidy Hornung of Los Alamitos – The Youth Center
• Cassy Lumme of Lakewood – The Youth Center
• Dominic Cashiola of Long Beach – Urban Community Outreach
• Lindsey Torgerson of Seal Beach – Seal Beach Lions International
• Madison Berry of Long Beach – Village Bible Academy Leo Club
• Mario Lara of Huntington Beach – Summer Harvest
• Max Russell of Seal Beach – The Friendship Circle
• Nicole Johnson of Long Beach – The Youth Center
• Pauline Foster of Seal Beach – Miss Seal Beach
• Rylie Long of Rossmoor – Precious Life Shelter
• Sarah Bancroft of Los Alamitos – Girl Scouts
• Shira Frank of Seal Beach – Los Alamitos Education Foundation
• Sophia Gascoigne of Los Alamitos – Special Olympics
• Josie Pearce of Los Alamitos – Los Alamitos Unified School District